SIX Group has released a white paper on the Future of Billing. The white paper emerged from a joint project conducted by SIX and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU).

It examines the current state of the Swiss billing industry and provides strategic insights into potential future developments in the area of billing for both invoice recipients and invoice issuers, based on current tendencies and trends.

Billing in Switzerland

Switzerland is a country of payment slips, but those days are numbered with QR-bill and eBill emerging as its successors. The way in which invoices are issued is also changing dramatically for which the white paper provides guidance.

Looking back, the payment slip (ESR) was introduced in 1909, and even now 65% of the Swiss attribute a higher importance to invoices than to other daily payments according to a survey by Intrum in 2019.

However, billing practices has changed dramatically in the recent years. Information is therefore urgently needed, particularly in response to questions like: What approaches will shape payments in the future? To what extent are digital solutions accepted, and what are the factors driving their success? How much does each type of billing cost? How reliable is it and how user-friendly?

The SIX white paper “Future of Billing” aims to give answers to these and many other related questions. The study provides guidelines and food for thought for companies that issue and receive invoices as well as for billing service providers, banks, fintechs and other payments enthusiasts.

The white paper is divided into two parts; the first of which examines the current billing practice and illustrates the high relevance of billing for the population and the economy. Four business-to-consumer (B2C) payment methods (direct debit, eBill, QR-bill and e-mail invoice) are analysed in detail and assessed. The assessment indicated that eBill offers the greatest benefits overall and many advantages for both invoice issuers and recipients.

The second part of the white paper offers an overview of future trends and developments as well as uses specific examples to show how we will issue and pay invoices in the future.